BuffaloArticles4

Nov 24,2001
HollywoodReporter.com
Buffalo Soldiers

By Michael Rechtshaffen

Recalling the irreverent spirit of "Catch 22" and "MASH,"not to mention some of the more surreal elements of "Apocalypse Now," Gregor Jordan's "Buffalo Soldiers" hits the satiric bull's-eye with deadly accuracy.

Based on Robert O'Connor's biting first novel of the same name, the dark-around-the-edges picture follows the questionable Cold War exploits of a group of American soldiers stationed in Stuttgart in 1989, mere days before the toppling of the Berlin Wall.

With a top-notch cast headed by the ever-versatile Joaquin Phoenix and assured direction by Aussie sophomore Jordan, the British-German-American co-production has the commercial goods to capture some decent boxoffice with the right marketing campaign by the right distributor.

It's the end of the Me Decade. George Dubya's dad is in the White House, and some 350,000 American soldiers are posted on 64 bases throughout southern West Germany.

They are, in the words of specialist Ray Elwood (Phoenix), "soldiers with nothing to kill except time," and they have found some interesting ways to alleviate their boredom.

For 317th Supply Battalion clerk Elwood, a dangerous mission means picking up party decorations for Mrs. Berman (Elizabeth McGovern), the wife of the sympathetic but ineffectual base commander (Ed Harris), with whom he's having a meaningless affair.

While Elwood also busies himself with various black market activities like peddling hundreds of cases of requisitioned Mop & Glo before moving onto more heavy-duty stuff like a truckload of stolen arms.

Most of the other guys on his base, meanwhile, are either totally wasted or looking to score some of the heroin being cooked by Elwood and his gang for the base's head of military police, the sadistic Sgt. Saad (Sheik Mahmud-Bey).

But Ray's little playhouse is about to be ripped down by incoming Sgt. Robert Lee (Scott Glenn), a tough-as-nails top sergeant who's determined to clean up the base. The two proceed to do some major head-butting, even as Elwood starts falling for Lee's defiant daughter (Anna Paquin).

Although all those sparks lead to an overly explosive climax, director Jordan, whose gangster comedy "Two Hands" (featuring an up-and-coming Heath Ledger) swept the Australian Film Institute Awards, does an admirable job of keeping the lively material from getting away.

Jordan also had a hand in the script, also officially credited to Eric Axel Weiss and Nora Maccoby ("Bongwater"), which, for the most, part mixes the light and dark elements with considerable skill. It even manages to quote Nietzsche without sounding pretentious.

A great deal of credit must also go to the always-compelling Phoenix, who, in opting for something with a little less intensity, assumes the character of the glib but lovable rogue with the kind of charm that very few, other than John Cusack, could pull off.

The rest of the cast, including Glenn, Harris and McGovern, goose the satirical element with equally understated finesse, while, behind the scenes, DP Oliver Stapleton ("The Cider House Rules") makes vivid use of the abandoned German army base where much of the film is shot.